Abstract

China’s five-year plan of PLA reform marked a new page in the history of PLA transformation. This article will analyse two major aspects of this round of unprecedented PLA reforms: (i) the politics of the military reform; and (ii) the PLA’s efforts to reshape its force establishments, organisational structure, and command chains. The first concerns Xi’s political leadership and the second draws a roadmap to remould the PLA by 2020. By now the reform has yielded substantial achievements: (i) the overhaul of the apex of power; (ii) the reshaping of the mid-level command chains of the war zone and service; and (iii) the restructuring of the overall force establishments. It has also created some transitional uncertainties as well.

About the Author

Dr You Ji is Professor of International Relations in the Department of Government and Public Administration at the University of Macau. He holds a Ph.D. and M.A. from the Australian National University and a B.A. from Peking University. Previously, he was a Reader in the School of Social Sciences at the University of New South Wales. His research focuses on China’s political and economic reforms, elite politics, military modernization, and foreign policy. Dr You is the author of four books, including China’s Military Transformation: Politics and War Preparation; China’s Enterprise Reform; and The Armed Forces of China. He has also published numerous book chapters and articles in journals including Problems of Communism, Journal of Strategic Studies, China: an International Journal; International Journal of Korean Unification Studies, The China Journal, the Pacific Review, Comparative Strategy, Asia Policy, Japanese Studies, Contemporary Southeast Asia, the Naval War College Review, Strategic Analysis, Journal of Contemporary China, and Contemporary Security Policy. He sits on the editorial board of eight academic journals including The China Journal, Issues and Studies, and Journal of Contemporary China.